Fire-box partition



April 1968 w. KOF ZBER 3,375,810

v FIRE-BOX PARTITION Filed April 5, 1966 f 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- v I Eb I" \fgt g K 8. l 0 M m H l I l/VVf/VTO/Q w. KbRBER FIRE-BOX PARTITION April 2, 1968 Filed April 5, 1966 2 She ets-Shee 1 :3

United States Patent 3,375,810 FIRE-BOX PARTITION Willi Kiirber, Gummersbach, Germany, assignor to L. & C. Steinmuller G.m.b.H., Gummersbach, Germany Filed Apr. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 540,315 Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 7, 1965,

St 23,640/65 Claims. (Cl. 122-240) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fire-box arrangement for a water tube boiler in which the fire-box has lateral confining walls and an intermediate partition made up of spaced co-planar pipes with the pipes having portions bent outwardly laterally from the plane of the pipes to form tunnels extending through the firebox into which burners of the boiler direct flame.

The present invention relates to a fire-box partition. In order to reduce the dimensions of fire-boxes, it is known to build so-called partitions into the fire-box by means of which partitions a faster temperature reduction in the longitudinal direction of the fire-box is effected. Seen from a heat technological standpoint, the pipes forming the partition are taken advantage of to a much .more favorable extent because the pipes forming the said box partition wall formed. by pipes which will improve the heat technological condtions.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with theaccornpanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a longitudinal section taken along the line II of FIG. 2 through a firebox which is subdivided by a single partition which in its turn has a single area in which the pipes are at both sides bent out of the intermediate plane.

FIG. 2 represents a section taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a longitudinal section taken along the line III III of FIG. 4 in which the partition has a plurality of areas over which the pipes forming the partition are bent into the fire-box and are offset with regard to each other.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

The present invention is based on the finding that such partitions inserted into the fire-box, from a heat technological standpoint, can be employed most favorably when they are arranged in the vicinity of the hot flame of the burner, and when they also transfer convection heat in addition to radiation heat.

The present invention is characterized primarily in that the pipes forming the partition are over one or more areas of the partition individually or combined as groups bent alternately in opposite direction into the fire-box and are subsequently continued in the common wall plane. This design of the pipe wall or walls forms a socalled pipe basket both sides of which consist of the pipes coming out of the wall and again uniting into the wall.

Inasmuch as the bending out is effected alternately to one and the other side, the pipes are, in their bent out area, spaced from each other by at least one pipe diameter so that the flue gas flows around those pipes which are bent into the fire-box and does not merely take over the pipes parallel to the plane of the partition wall. Consequently, the arrangement of the present invention greatly increases the heat exchange.

The bending out of the pipes forming the partition Wall in conformity with the present invention may advantageously be so effected that all of the pipes distributed over the entire width of the partition are individually or in the form of pipe groups bent out into the space of the firebox at both sides of the partition. To bend all of the pipes distributed over the entire width of the partition in one or the other direction has the advantage that more favorable heat technological conditions are created for all of the pipes forming the partition wall.

For structural reasons and flow technical reasons, it is in some instances not always desired to bend all of the pipes distributed over the entire width of the partition wall individually or as pipe groups toward one or the other side into the firebox. Therefore, according to a further development of the present invention, it is possible to bend out a portion only of the pipes forming the pipe wall. It is under no circumstances necessary that the pipes or pipe groups are bent out in the above mentioned manner within one single area of the partition wall only. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of such areas of pipes bent out into the fire-box may be provided which will then, in conformity with the present invention, be arranged vertically with regard to each other or in an offset manner. Such an arrangement creates particularly favorable areas from a heat transfer standpoint.

If, when inserting a partition into a firebox, it is desired for structural reasons that the said partition be spaced from the face or back wall by a desired distance, it is suggested in conformity with the present invention to make the Width of the partition shorter than the depth of the fire-box. The arrangement of the individual areas of the pipe wall extending into the fire-box may, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, be so selected that the pipes or pipe groups which are bent alternately and extend from the pipe wall plane into the fire-box space on opposite sides of said partition form subdivisions or subchambers while the distance of the enveloping flame of each burner associated with each subchamber will be evenly spaced from all walls of such subchamber.

Experience has shown that a particularly favorable heat transfer will be obtained when a corresponding association of the burners with the individual bent out ranges of the partition wall is effected in the just described manner. Therefore, it is further suggested to have the mouth of a burner lead into the free spaced formed by the bent out portion of the pipes of the pipe wall. Such burner will then primarily heat those portions of the pipes which face this free space.

In order further to improve the heat technological conditions, it is suggested, according to a further development of the present invention, to associate two additional burners with the burner extending into the said free space formed by the bending out of the pipes. These additional two burners are to be arranged on both sides of the pipe wall plane below the bent out pipe legs. These two additional burners will then heat the outer surfaces of the so-called pipe basket formed by the bent out pipes.

Referring now to the drawings in detailand FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof in particular, the fire-box 1 is by means of Patented Apr. 2, 1968 pipe is bent into the other subdivision of the fire-box.

However, if desired, two or more pipes may be combined into a group and bent into one subdivision and into the other subdivision so that practically a plurality of pipe groups alternately extend into the different subdivisions of the fire-box. By bending the individual pipes forming the pipe wall in the above mentioned manner, a so-called pipe basket is formed, and the flue gas flowing in upward direction will flow around the pipes forming said pipe basket whereby favorable heat technological conditions are created. In addition thereto, the bending out of the individual pipes permits an increase in the pipe length which likewise contributes to a better exploitation of the heat transferring medium.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a further embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the partition wall 211, in contrast to the partition wall 2 of FIG. 2, has two areas 6 and 7 over which the pipes are bent into the fire-box. Such an arrangement is for heat technological reasons always desired when the pipe wall surface permits such a design. When building up a partition wall with a plurality of areas over which the pipes extend into the fire-box, the said areas may be arranged vertically above each other. However, they may also be olfset with regard to each other as shown in FIG. 3.

By bending the individual pipes into the fire-box subdivision, a free space is created into which the mouth 8 (see FIG. 2) or advantageously also the mouths 9 and 10 of two burners (see FIG. 4) may lead. When providing a plurality of pipe areas defining such free space, the burner openings or mouths may lead into said free space. In such instances, the interior surface of the pipe basket will be particularly strongly heat affected. These burners, the mouths of which lead into such free space, may have associated therewith additional burners which are advantageously arranged below said one burner and on both vsides f the pipe wall below the bent out pipe legs. These additional burners will then heat the major portion of the outer surfaces of the pipe basket formed by the bent out pipes. It is evident that, depending on the prevailing conditions, the burner 8 or the burners 9 and leading vinto the pipe basket formed by the bent out pipes may be omitted.

As will be evident from the above description, the present invention yields a fire-box wall which, in a simple and advantageous manner in combination with a special arrangement of the burners, yields particularly favorable results in heat technological respect.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular em 'bodiments shown in the drawings, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a fire-box having lateral vconfining walls; partition means in the fire box intermediate said lateral walls and subdividing the fire-box into respective lateral chambers, said partition means comprising a plurality of pipes in spaced relation and disposed in respective parallel planes which extend perpendicularly to said lateral walls, at least the end portions of said pipes being disposed in another plane parallel to and midway between said lateral walls, at least some of said pipes between the ends thereof having a portion thereof bent laterally outwardly from said other plane toward a respective one of said lateral walls, some of said pipes having the said portion thereof bent outwardly from said other plane in one direction and others of said pipes having the said portion thereof bent outwardly from said other plane in the other direction, the portions bent out from said other plane in one direction registering with said portions of others of said pipes bent out from said other plane in the other direction so that subchambers are formed in said fire-box including at least one subchamber extending along the partition means and other subchambers confined between said lateral walls and said bent out portions.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which the bent out portions of one group of said pipes is located at one point along the length of the pipes and the bent out portions of another group of said pipes is located at a diflerent point along the length of the pipes to form two subchambers extending along the partition means.

3. The combination according to claim 1 which includes burner means at the end of at least the subchamber in the partition means and the ends of the subchambers formed between the lateral walls of the fire-box and the said bent out portions and which last mentioned subchambers are located below the subchamber in the partition means.

4. The combination according to claim 2 which includes burner means at the ends of at least the subchambers in the partition means and the ends of the subchambers formed between the lateral walls of the firebox and the said bent out portions and which last mentioned subchambers are located below the subchambers in the partition means.

5. The combination according to claim 2 in which said burner means are so located at the ends of the subchambers that the flame envelopes of the flames therefrom is substantially centrally located in the respective subchambers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 716,669 10/1954 Great Britain.

KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner. 

